Kim said... >My original obsession was outrageously out of hand and I loved it. [...] I'm keeping to the level area as much as possible. Weeding that slope is offensive enough without having to traipse up and down, sliding on every other step, to maintain anything down there. I know I will resent the ones which go on the slope and will eventually allow them to go the way of the Dodo, so I'm choosing to rid myself of them, instead. That's a LOT of roses, quite a few of which are seedlings either generated through my obsession or those shared with me by other "obsessives", but that is what it is going to take to keep this "fun", doable and prevent the water requirements from eating me out of house, home and desire. Weeding through them to maintain those which are just happier to be here with me and those which are endangered, has been a real chore. Now, if there was a ton of level land with high ground water. Hi Kim, Back in the Dark Ages we lived in California in just the sort of spot you are conjuring up as a high ground water fix. But native trees really like spots like that too... and our house had lots of shade, too much shade for most roses. Still, we wouldn't have dreamed of cutting down a tree. We didn't own the house, we like trees, and anyway, removing a tree was illegal without a good reason for a permit where we lived (a Monarch Butterfly preserve). Anyway, we were relative youngsters at the time and didn't know just how wet that property was until our vegetable garden was swimming in water during the winter months. It was fine, fine black silty sand that held on to the water pretty well too. Your post made me think about what we'd do if confronted with your lack of water problems back in California again. What you're doing makes a lot of sense. But I also am wondering whether a bank full of Renaes rambling around might not survive and also keep the weeds down once they proliferated and established themselves? They might take over the other remaining roses, but if you weren't still trying hard to keep those... A bunch of Renaes might not require so much watering once established? I don't think a big crowd of them would look bad at all, depending on personal tastes, of course. In fact, I prefer that kind of look. We've done that crowded thing in a pretty good sized area with azaleas and rhododendrons here; they all grow together and if there's a weed under there somewhere, well, you can't easily penetrate to find or see it. Once in awhile there's a tree sneaking in that will have to be pulled up, but basically it's too shady under all the plant thickness for most weeds to grow. And I adore the looks of those crowded plants! No, we don't have big problems with fungal diseases, even with the crowd. Maybe fewer than average problems, though phytopthera wilt sometimes does require some cutting back of rhododendron limbs. You know a big problem with azaleas and rhododendrons is that they aren't drought tolerant. Well, we have lost huge numbers since our drought problems began big time here around 2001. It's been wonderfully rainy most of the time during the last couple of years, but the next drought period is probably just around the corner... and if we lose some more azaleas and rhododendrons then, well, I'm thinking of trying to establish some Renaes and Annie Laurie McDowells in their place in the relatively sunnier spots... along with some more camellias, which are drought tolerant after the first year. (Though blooming is less than ideal if August and September are dry.) We lost our Annie Laurie McDowell to Rose Rosette Disease last year, but I am figuring that if it's anything like our Renae here, well, it's as no-care, no-worry a plant as any other plant of any kind we've ever had in our yard. Not a touch of blackspot or any other disease here thus far (though that may well change just a bit as we get more shade as the sun angle changes during the fall). Anyway, I'm hoping for another Annie Laurie McDowell eventually too. Ours is a no-spray all-organic yard for everything we grow and Renae fits well into that way of doing things. I think Annie Laurie McDowell will too. I know it hurts to cut back some on what you are able to continue doing, Kim. But I keep thinking mostly about your achievements and how much you have helped so many others in what you have already contributed. Thank you! Best wishes, Mary

H. papilio is a diploid species from Brazil, it is very endangered due to habitat destruction. Some bulbs are self fertile (produces seed with it's own pollen), some are self sterile (you need a separate clone), it depends on the specific clones of this species. Each clone has usually miniscule differences. I have a clone that has a white background as opposed to a green one, I have one that opens quite flat and one that hardly opens at all. Most papilio on the market are true species, some are sold as a clone with a "higher" bud count, this is usually untrue OR it is indeed a hybrid. The only thing I would think of that could make H. papilio "rare" is having collection data from a wild location.

I don't know what Euphorbia this is, but it occasionally seeds, though not to any great degree. It is unfussy and tidy, and provides a nice foliage contrast to the other plants in this bed. From Late May 2014 False Solomon's seal, Smilacina racemosa, volunteered here, probably from seeds in the soil we moved in to level off the bed. I like it at this time of year, but later in the summer it gets a bit ratty in the sun. I need to move it to a shadier spot where it will remain ornamental when the weather heats up. From Late May 2014 My Halesia is fading now, but it while it is blooming the bees love it. This one is more of a shrub than a tree because it froze back to the snow line several times when it was young, so it has many low branches. From Late May 2014 The bed along what was an old barn foundation. From Late May 2014 After a rough first year between my neglecting it in a too-small pot and the voles noshing on it over the winter, this Leucosceptrum japonicum Gold Angel is glowing this season. It reminds me of a golden coleus, but is perennial. From Late May 2014 At DH's shop, the redbud and a Viburnum burkwoodii bloom at the same time. The underplanting of woodland phlox hasn't gotten large enough to show yet, but I am hoping for a haze of lavender under the redbud in future years. From Late May 2014 All the rain has given us scenic effects, like mist rising off the fields as the sun sets From Late May 2014 From Late May 2014 and a rainbow. From Late May 2014

Thanks guys. Leslie, no there's no purple in that iris. And Carla, I don't know where I got it from, or even what the name is. It's one of my unknowns. I've been growing irises for about 6 yrs now, and so far, I have 4 that have rebloomed well this season only. Aprille, I'm only too happy to enable anybody into collecting the oddballs, as I call them! Glad to hear you're one of them now!! Gary, that GYPSY CURIOSA is one of my favorite florist roses. It's so unusual. It seems to like the cooler temps better than the heat.